IF you remember where Plains is, it's the time of the year when the leaves are falling, I can almost tell you if VP is open or closed with my binocs, about 1/2 mile across the river. I don't know if you knew but there are 3 or 4 pizza places in the area all run by members of the family under different names. Pizza Perfect, Pizza Lovin, Victory Pig and the last one is their last name. don't want to mention it online.

IF you remember where Plains is, it's the time of the year when the leaves are falling, I can almost tell you if VP is open or closed with my binocs, about 1/2 mile across the river. I don't know if you knew but there are 3 or 4 pizza places in the area all run by members of the family under different names. Pizza Perfect, Pizza Lovin, Victory Pig and the last one is their last name. don't want to mention it online.

Chet

I very familiar with Plains. My father was born there and I was born, grew up, and lived in Kingston for 37 years before moving here to western PA. Was not aware that Pizza Perfect folks were related but I know the owner of Pizza L'oven because my mother was friends with his mother. Perhach is his last name I believe and he worked in the VP kitchen as a teenager which is why he knew how to make it. He was the first of the imitators and built a good business from it. Don't think he was related to the "C" family though.

First Off I want to say the pizza really surprised my wife & I. t was the best sicilian I have made, dough texture was almost perfect, the next time I will bake at 450 deg rather than 475, 475 in my oven seemed to be browning the cheese a little prematurely, at 10 min I had to take the pie out, almost perfect but to my wife it was delicious. your recipe has some magic to it, your procedure worked great, I used my all time favorite GM Full strength and the Classico peeled ground tomatoes from WalMart, I will make this recipe again. It is so close to VP pizza, good job Steel Baker

First Off I want to say the pizza really surprised my wife & I. t was the best sicilian I have made, dough texture was almost perfect, the next time I will bake at 450 deg rather than 475, 475 in my oven seemed to be browning the cheese a little prematurely, at 10 min I had to take the pie out, almost perfect but to my wife it was delicious. your recipe has some magic to it, your procedure worked great, I used my all time favorite GM Full strength and the Classico peeled ground tomatoes from WalMart, I will make this recipe again. It is so close to VP pizza, good job Steel Baker

This recipe is portioned for use with a 12x17 pan. If adjusting for different sized pans, do not increase the amount of yeast unless the recipe is more than doubled. Reduce yeast proportionately if reducing the recipe size.

1. The sauce: The sauce is very simple, a can of good quality crushed tomatoes with a finely chopped medium white onion mixed in and a pinch of kosher salt. This sauce is not cooked or spiced at all, simply chop the onions and mix them into the crushed tomatoes. Please note that (1) 28oz can of crushed tomatoes with the recommended amount of onion will top (4) 12x17 trays so be sure to adjust your topping amount accordingly.

TIP: use one of those kitchen-chopping gadgets to chop the onions very fine, not a knife. Not only is it faster & easier, there are no tears. Remember, very finely chopped. There are no chunks of onion in this style of pizza, just the onion flavor.

2. The cheese: The cheese is a 50:50 mixture of shredded mozzarella & white cheddar (Wisconsin or Vermont) cheeses.

3. The dough: The dough is a basic pizza dough recipe. This recipe will yield an approximately 1-3/4 lb dough ball. The sugar & oil are optional but do contribute to the browning & softness of the crust if used.

Combine the following ingredients in a bowl or mixer in the following order:

After forming all ingredients into a single dough ball, let rest for 15 minutes, then knead thoroughly for 6 minutes. Put ¼ cup peanut oil into 12x17 blue steel pan (higher sides are better). Stretch dough to cover about 2/3 of the pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap to keep the moisture in & prevent the dough from “skinning”.

After 1-2 hours, remove plastic wrap & knock the dough down & stretch to fill the pan. Pull dough up along the sides of the pan and into the corners. Re-cover with plastic and give dough enough rise time to fill the pan. 30 minutes to 1 hours should be enough.

Uncover dough, sprinkle a pinch of kosher salt on top then top the pizza with the sauce & cheese. Be sure NOT to knock the dough down while you’re topping it. This will only require a few tablespoons of sauce & a handful of cheese, both evenly spread. This Pizza is not loaded with sauce & cheese so top evenly & moderately to maintain the balance of flavors.

Bake in a 450-475 degree oven on bottom rack for 12-15 minutes until the cheese appears to just start to burn. At this point, the crust should be crispy, browned, & fried.

For the experienced pizza bakers on the forum, here is the weight based recipe that I normally use:

Hi SB, I have a few questions. How does the sugar & oil affect the softness & browning? And do you cook the sauce or just chop it all up & put on pizza? Also have you prebaked the crust & if so what affect does that have on it? Thanks!! Your pizzas look amazing!

Hi SB, I have a few questions. How does the sugar & oil affect the softness & browning? And do you cook the sauce or just chop it all up & put on pizza? Also have you prebaked the crust & if so what affect does that have on it? Thanks!! Your pizzas look amazing!

Hi Michelle,

1. Sugar promotes browning in dough products just as it browns & caramelizes when cooking. Oil provides a softness & richer feel to baked goods.2. The sauce is not cooked or spiced at all per the above posts.3. No pre-baking. As the recipe indicates above, the raw dough is topped, then baked.

Here is a link to post #21 above which details the recipe & technique and also links to a Youtube video that I did to demonstrate the techniques.

Thanks for the info Steel Baker. This has been quite a thread. I appreciate the effort you have put into it.What I have done is to condense all the info in this thread and You Tube into step by step instructions in the attachmentthat I have included. I would appreciate any comments or corrections. Maybe somebody else will find it useful.

Thanks for the info Steel Baker. This has been quite a thread. I appreciate the effort you have put into it.What I have done is to condense all the info in this thread and You Tube into step by step instructions in the attachmentthat I have included. I would appreciate any comments or corrections. Maybe somebody else will find it useful.

pat

Looks good, thanks. This pizza has been an obsession of mine since I first started trying to make it in the '70's. Having grown up with so many great pizzas in NE PA, I felt like I had to document this style as much as I could.

SB, as a point of clarification, padakat's attachment says HG bread flour. Is this correct? Do you use BF or HG flour, or is there a HGBF? I usually see either BF or HG flour but not HGBF. Or is perhaps HGBF really just short for HG flour?

SB, as a point of clarification, padakat's attachment says HG bread flour. Is this correct? Do you use BF or HG flour, or is there a HGBF? I usually see either BF or HG flour but not HGBF. Or is perhaps HGBF really just short for HG flour?

Thanks,Chau

Either will work fine. I use Bread Flour. I think some people refer to all bread four as High Gluten Bread Flour. I've referred to it that way previously as a novice pizza baker.

This morning in my E-mail I received a newsletter from Americas Test Kitchen for pan pizza.Yours is equivalent to a Lamborghini and theirs, compared to yours, is a Yugo.I'll be trying this next week. Thanks for all the help.

I'd like to take a stab at calculating the thickness factor for your recipe so that it can be used in one of the dough calculating tools to make pizzas for different sizes of pans than the one you used in the video. However, I note that you indicated the weight of the IDY to be 9 grams in one post and 8 grams in another. The standard weight for a packet of IDY is 7 grams. You didn't weigh the IDY for the video but I assume that the number I would use is 7 grams. For the rest of the ingredients, I would use the weights that you measured out in the video (except for the oil). Does this sound like the correct approach to take?

I'd like to take a stab at calculating the thickness factor for your recipe so that it can be used in one of the dough calculating tools to make pizzas for different sizes of pans than the one you used in the video. However, I note that you indicated the weight of the IDY to be 9 grams in one post and 8 grams in another. The standard weight for a packet of IDY is 7 grams. You didn't weigh the IDY for the video but I assume that the number I would use is 7 grams. For the rest of the ingredients, I would use the weights that you measured out in the video (except for the oil). Does this sound like the correct approach to take?

Peter

Thanks Peter. Yes, that's fine. I buy my IDY in 1lb packages at Costco & weigh it in. When I used the bread maker yeast 2-1/4 tsp packets, I never weighed them in. I don't think the weight is too critical here whether it's 7, 8, or 9 grams.